Articles

Naksa Day Commemorates Decades of IsraHelli State Terror
June 6, 2011
Palestine Affairs
NOVANEWS   Wailing Wall of Shame by Stephen Lendman Supported, funded and armed by Washington, Israelis terrorize Palestinians daily. From late ...Read more
Afghanistan: Time to Pack Our Bags
June 6, 2011
Pakistan & Kashmir
NOVANEWS Another Gradual Withdrawal Mr. President, Time to Admit “You’ve Been Had!” by Gordon Duff, Senior Editor President Obama is now ...Read more
US ‘deeply troubled’ at killings on Palestine-Syria border
June 6, 2011
Syria
NOVANEWS   State department calls on sides to exercise restraint as protestors declare they plan on staging sit-down near fence ...Read more
IsraHell stealth ships in raids on Iran
June 6, 2011
ZIO-NAZI
NOVANEWS   Shipping company accused of breaking sanctions was really ferrying commandos for operations inside Iran Uzi Mahnaimi Cargo vessels ...Read more
Empire or Republic. How the Empire Destroys its Own People From Joplin, Missouri to Kabul, Afghanistan
June 6, 2011
Pakistan & Kashmir
NOVANEWS By Prof. James Petras Global Research, Introduction   On May 29, 2011, President Obama visited Joplin, Missouri , the ...Read more
FRANKLIN LAMB: ISRAELIS RUSH FOR SECOND PASSPORTS
June 6, 2011
ZIO-NAZI
NOVANEWS “The number of Israelis thinking of leaving Palestine is climbing rapidly according to researchers, while many more, with actual ...Read more
NAHIDA THE EXILED PALESTINIAN: JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE? REALLY??
June 6, 2011
Palestine Affairs
NOVANEWS GILAD ATZMON   Gilad Atzmon: This is a very important informative piece. I suggest anyone who is interested in ...Read more
Mondoweiss Online Newsletter
June 6, 2011
Middle East
NOVANEWS   ‘NYT’ editors briefly flagellate themselves for their role in fomenting Iraq war– then move on! Unarmed protesters scramble ...Read more
Egyptians don’t care about democracy, only the economy, says US Republicans
June 6, 2011
Egypt
NOVANEWS A poll that unsurprisingly didn’t focus so much on the major reasons the Egyptian economy is in such bad ...Read more
What “right to exist” as a Jewish state?
June 6, 2011
ZIO-NAZI
NOVANEWS   Leading Australian academic Scott Burchill (we like his thoughts here) on specious Zionist claims: Since the 1970s, Israel’s leaders ...Read more
WikiLeaks: Indian Army and Siachen
June 6, 2011
Pakistan & Kashmir
By Yousaf Alamgirian   Amid the WikiLeaks disclosed the fact Indian army was engaged in extra judicial killing in Indian ...Read more
Pakistan: Why Swat was a Success
June 6, 2011
Pakistan & Kashmir
NOVANEWS By Jawad Raza Khan History of warfare is filled with enormous number of illustrations regarding counterinsurgency operations, perceptibly with ...Read more

Naksa Day Commemorates Decades of IsraHelli State Terror

NOVANEWS

 

Wailing Wall of Shame
by Stephen Lendman

Supported, funded and armed by Washington, Israelis terrorize Palestinians daily. From late May to early June alone, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Palestine News Network, and others reported:

  • – an Iraq Bourin village child wounded;

  • – in Bil’in village, one resident wounded, another 15 arrested, including eight international human rights activists against Israel’s illegal Separation Wall, stealing up to 12% of Palestinian land when completed;

  • – on May 29 at 1AM, Israeli forces stormed Bil’in village, panicking residents with sound bombs while they slept;

  • – on June 3, IDF troops attacked weekly Bil’in anti-Wall protesters with tear gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets, and sprayed sewage water, injuring six and many others from asphyxiating fumes;

  • – Israel conducted 47 incursions into West Bank communities and one in central Gaza, arresting 29, including four children and two women;

  • – two Jenin charitable organizations were closed and eight artisan wells destroyed;

  • – a Qalqilya construction materials shop was bulldozed;

  • – Israeli vessels fired on Palestinian fishermen, crashing into and destroying one boat in Gazan waters, injuring its occupant, rescued by others nearby;

  • – Israeli tanks, military vehicles and bulldozers breached Gaza’s border east of the al-Buriage refugee camp, terrorizing residents and razing agricultural land gratuitously;

  • – Israeli soldiers shot and wounded a Gazan man in Gaza City’s al-Zeitoun neighborhood;

  • – extremist Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian shepherd in Madma village, burning four dunams of farmland there;

  • other settlers attacked a Palestinian youth in central Hebron’s al-Dbuya area, injuring him;

  • – almost daily other settler attacks occur, protected by Israeli soldiers; and

  • – IDF forces conduct regular West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza incursions any time day or night, terrorizing nonviolent civilians, including women and children.

Alarmed by Netanyahu’s extremism, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan went public on concerns he finds most alarming, saying when still in office with other recently retired top officials, they “could block any dangerous adventure. Now I am afraid that there is no one to stop Bibi and Barak.”

It’s not the Iranians or Palestinians who worry him. It’s Israel’s leadership, in recent comments made to journalists and a Tel Aviv University audience, calling these no ordinary times. In his view, it’s one minute to midnight, a frightening thought by someone well versed on policy who knows.

Israeli Naksa Day Terror

Annually, Naksa Day (June 5) commemorates the “day of the setback” when Israel forces occupied historic Palestine, militarizing it repressively to assert control, violating fundamental human rights law by attacking a nonbelligerent state illegally.

For 44 years, it’s remained a ruthlessly terrorized armed camp, Palestinians resisting it courageously nonetheless. Ahead of this year’s commemoration, Haaretz writers Anshel Pfeffer, Jack Khoury and Avi Issacharoff headlined, “IDF on high alert as Palestinians prepare for Naksa Day,” saying:

Israel’s Northern Command prepared for “possible attempt(s) by thousands of (Damascus-based) Palestinian refugees to storm the” Golan border with Israel.

In addition, Central and Southern Command forces mobilized “in case of an outbreak in violence near the West Bank and Gaza Strip respectively,” even though significant incidents aren’t likely unless Israel deliberately provokes them.

Weeks earlier on Nakba Day, IDF troops attacked peaceful demonstrators in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and along the Lebanese/Syrian borders, killing over 20 and injuring scores more.

On June 5, Khoury, Eli Ashkenazi, Amos Harel and Haaretz Service headlined, “5 Palestinians killed, 10 hurt in clashes with IDF” on Syria’s border, saying:

Israeli soldiers preemptively “opened fire at hundreds of Palestinians amassing near Israel’s border with Syria on the Golan Heights….firing tear gas and other demonstration dispersal weaponry,” including live fire against nonviolent Naksa Day demonstrators.

IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich called it “controlled fire from commanders on the ground,” first firing warning shots, then aiming directly at protesters. In response, senior military officials dismissively omitted numbers killed or hurt in further statements, and didn’t explain that troops got direct orders to fire freely at nonviolent demonstrators, a criminal act by any standard.

On June 5, Israel National News said Netanyahu told a Sunday morning Cabinet meeting that “we will not allow extremists” to violate Israel’s borders, showing his intolerance for anyone not Jewish, even Israel’s own citizens.

Military officials accused Syria of instigating violence, Netanyahu saying:

“Unfortunately, extremist forces around us are trying today to breach our borders and threaten our communities and our citizens. We will not let them do that.”

In fact, AP reported that Palestinian and Syrian supporters marched peacefully to Israel’s border, remaining on their side of a barbed-wire lined trench. In response, Israeli troops attacked them with live fire, Lt. Col. Leibovich claiming they “clash(ed) with the soldiers.”

A later June 5 Khoury, Ashkenazi, Harel. Haaretz Service report said Israeli forces “opened fire at hundreds of Syrian-Palestinians amassing near Israel’s (Golan) border with Syria,” killing up to 18 and injuring hundreds. At 10PM Moscow time, Russia Today reported 20 killed, a fluid rising number as some of the wounded die. An early June 6 Haaretz account said 22 were killed on Sunday.

As usual, Israeli officials blamed Palestinians for IDF violence, opening fire at point blank range on unarmed civilians, causing a largely ignored bloodbath in America’s media.

On June 5, the Jerusalem Post said “Activists (also) clash(ed) with border police at (Qalandia) crossing” between Jerusalem and Ramallah Sunday afternoon. Israel’s Channel 10 and Maan News reported tear gas, shock grenades, and rubber bullets freely used to disperse crowds. At least two protesters sustained serious injuries, dozens more needing treatment for tear gas inhalation.

Throughout the West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated against militarized occupation they want ended. Palestinian Democratic Union member Jamal Abu Nahl told protesters to stay unified, resist, and not compromise on demanding Israel’s occupation end.

On June 5, AFP reported thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv against 44 years of occupation Saturday.

“The predominantly Jewish crowd marched through the (city center) calling for the creation of a ‘Palestinian state in the interest of Israel’ along the borders prior to the (June 1967) Six Day War….”

In fact, they carried placards mocking Netanyahu with a caricature of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, saying: “Netanyahu, you are leading us into catastrophe.” They also waved Israeli and Palestinian flags, chanting: “Israel, Palestine: two states for two peoples” and “Solidarity with the Palestinians.”

Organizers included Meretz Party members, anti-Zionists, and anti-occupation/colonialization groups, including Peace Now.

In addition, West Bank Christians organized a “peace and justice” religious service, denouncing the occupation at a military checkpoint near Bethlehem.

As worldwide opposition to Israel’s occupation grows, ending it one day draws closer, what can’t happen a moment too soon.

Final Comments

On June 4, International Middle East Media Center writer Saed Bannoura reported former Hamas Minister of Detainees Wasfi Qabha saying indications of reconciliation with Fatah aren’t evident. In fact, PA security forces are still detaining and interrogating Hamas members and supporters, acting as Israel’s enforcer.

Moreover, despite promising to release political prisoners, dozens are still being held. Qabha said this defeats reconciliation, telling the Palestinian Information Center that Abbas must act responsibly “to protect unity and national interests.”

On May 16, Israeli and Egyptian vessels interdicted the Malaysian owned Spirit of Rachel Corrie ship (officially the MV Finch), carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, forcing it back to Egyptian waters where it remained anchored offshore.

Unable to deliver their cargo, three activists on board returned to Malaysia on May 30, the other nine expected back Sunday night.

Sponsored by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF), headed by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, PGPF chairman Tan Sri Norian Mai said:

“Although this mission cannot be said to be 100 percent successful, it managed to break Israel’s illegal siege (by) enter(ing) Gazan waters before” interdiction. He added that PGPF will keep trying to deliver essential aid, including MV Finch’s cargo – vitally needed plastic sewage pipes to restore what Israel’s Cast Lead attack destroyed. Under siege, restoration can’t happen without help.

Undeterred, it’s coming, including 15 ships and over 1,000 activists from dozens of countries sailing from various ports in late June, Israel again planning interdiction.

No matter. Dr. Mahathir said “we don’t respect Israel’s blockade.” Neither do millions of others, many determined to breach it to deliver essential to life aid until Gaza is again free. Nothing Israel does can stop it.

Afghanistan: Time to Pack Our Bags

NOVANEWS

Another Gradual Withdrawal

Mr. President, Time to Admit “You’ve Been Had!”

by Gordon Duff, Senior Editor

President Obama is now exploring avenues for a faster withdrawal from Afghanistan.  American is flat broke, busted and our allies in Afghanistan have proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are far worse than our enemies.  Karzai can’t bring his army up to speed because he is an American kleptocrat and oil company stooge making presidential noises nobody wants to hear.

A bigger issue we wish the president would face is the farcical nature of the war itself.  Notwithstanding that Osama bin Laden was never a terrorist leader, died in 2001 and never took credit for 9/11 despite the ravings of Larry King and the childish parroting of Barak Obama, the entire idea, overthrowing a government whose only crime was tough oil company negotiations isn’t a first for America.  Neither is the corruption and drug dealing that followed the American occupation.

This wasn’t a war, it was and is an occupation.  There was no substantive enemy to fight, not until we occupied the country and put a usurper into office.  Then the people rose against us, kicked our tail and, here we are, years later, doing the Vietnam thing again.

If Obama had done what was right, investigate 9/11, and talk facts instead of his “you can’t handle the truth” game, we could have cleaned our own house back here instead of losing thousands and killing countless innocents.

When you take over office from a pack of war criminals, you can’t call Bush and gang anything else, you don’t do more of the same.  Doing what war criminals do, imprison, torture, murder, wage aggressive war, this makes you a war criminal too.  How does it feel having a Nobel Peace Prize when you can read the papers every day and learn how many children you have killed?

Anyone see the irony here?

Do we need to mention Iraq?  No weapons of mass destruction, no nukes, nothing, all lies, all known to be lies, always lies. Bush knew.  He lied, our troops and a million civilians died.  Our troops are still dying as are our veterans, now an embarrassment and inconvenience as they always are when the parades are over and the real face of war, crime, racketeering, greed, lies, phony terrorism, oil theft, drug running, profiteering is seen.

We went in, stole oil, stole everything, built nothing other than a walled Disneyland called the Green Zone where we hide out for years and take our payoffs.  The whole thing is childish, sick.

I have driven Iraq looking for all those orphanages and power plants, the ones Americans paid hundreds of billions for.  They don’t exist.  Anyone ever see photos of the American projects?  No?  Ever wonder why?  Go there yourself, its not hard.  Every reporter that has been in Iraq, thousands of them, they all know.  We built next to nothing there, left the country with a hopelessly assailed government, fighting for its life.  Iraq isn’t a primitive country, not hardly.  Iraq was secular, totally westernized, very modern and very rich.

No longer.  This was our doing.

Outgoing Secretary of Defense Gates and our Pentagon Princes are asking for years to get out of Afghanistan.  I have always been a supporter of Secretary Gates but when I see someone ignore an $80 billion dollar heroin industry that grew up under his watch, I begin to ask questions.

It’s time we all asked questions.  We have been down this road before too, Central America, planeloads of cocaine cooked into crack, buying our police, our courts and, if we are honest, more than one presidency.

We are told that between $200 million and $400 million of heroin cash from Afghanistan was laundered into our last congressional election, mostly to Tea Party candidates whose pre-election rhetoric is exposed for what it was and is, empty and vile.  Why would heroin money fund candidates working for the insurance lobby, big coal, nuclear power and Wall Street criminals?

Is that because they are behind the $80 billion dollar business that grew from nothing under America’s watchful eyes to now provide 92% of the world’s illegal narcotics?

Do you want to blame the Taliban?

Do people seriously believe they are flying heroin out of Afghanistan from US controlled air bases?  Does anything think people known for executing television sets are banking billions of dollars?  Has anyone ever met a rich Taliban?  Ever hear of a Taliban banker being arrested?

Where do Taliban shop?  Dubai?  Where do they keep the things they buy?  We see poppies all over Afghanistan but when was the last time the US pulled a Taliban member over for speeding in his Ferrari?

What it looks like is that Gates is afraid of interfering with the billions of dollars in heroin business, a business not run by the Taliban but by Americans along with bankers in Zurich and Tel Aviv.

With Americans gone who is going to keep the crops safe, who is going to keep the heroin flowing?

We can’t move on without rehashing a thing or two.  Let’s spend a moment on bin Laden.

Spin.  Everything is spin.


YouTube – Veterans Today –

Even the cover story, SEAL team breaks into unguarded hovel and guns down unarmed man, has an unpleasant aspect to it.  We are told the FBI is now trying to promote, on their website, that bin Laden had connections to 9/11.  Get real.

Picture 9/11 as a boxing match.  When one fighter swings and misses and the other fighter falls to the mat, we all know the fight was fixed.

This is Building 7.  For years Americans were told two towers were hit and two towers fell.  Three towers fell.

One was blown up.  We all know this now, it was admitted publicly, even Geraldo reported it, Fox News no less.  When sections of heavy steal beams weighing dozens of tons, flew hundreds of feet in the air, up in the air, not “down to the ground” some of us thought “explosion.”  To Bush it was another law for him to violate in the name of “national security.  This time it was the law of gravity.

What we can now prove is that all three were blown up.  Next time they try that game, they had better get three planes and write a better cover story.

If we let them get away with it, you can be assured of this;  there will be a “next time.”

The point is, who do you trust?  Do you trust a government that lied about Iraq?  Do you trust the Pentagon, they lost nearly $3 trillion dollars before 9/11 and never found time to look for it.  Do you trust a government that kidnaps and tortures people, uses the evidence they give and later releases the same people saying they were arrested out of mistaken identity?

OK, let’s put this out there again.  Almost all of the evidence used to support the war on terror was gotten through torturing people we later admitted knew nothing about terrorism at all.  Yes, that’s right.  Our intelligence sources for the past decade have, for the most part, been people we later admitted, had no connection to terrorism at all?

Then why did we base our War on Terror on the information they gave or was it “given” at all?  Is it hard to guess, we told them what they were to say and tortured them until they said it.  After that, our plan was to convict them in “kangaroo court” military tribunals and lock them away forever.  Instead, hundreds were released and have spilled their guts.  No plan is perfect, no matter how utterly criminal and debased the American elected officials are who put it in motion, especially when most of them are utter morons.

American papers seldom report this or anything that isn’t handed to them, however.  News is suppressed, deeply censored in the United States.  “Journalism” is the new “four letter word.”

I can tell you what we can prove.  If Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan, alive in Pakistan, he was in a CIA “safehouse.”  We have direct testimony that bin Laden was working for the CIA on 9/11 and had nothing to do with 9/11.  We have hard proof.  If he was killed, then the United States murdered a CIA asset who had been sequestered because America had used him as an excuse for two illegal wars and the building of a massive drug empire.

Were bin Laden actually killed, we murdered “one of our own” because he was no longer useful, no money left to steal, our military too weak to invade Iran, our economy so broken nothing will ever be able to really put it back together.

What would be nice, whether we killed an American ally or simply threw a frozen “dead guy” into the water, a corpse stored for a decade, is that our lies might actually be used for something good for a change.  If the phony death of the phony bin Laden can now allow Obama to get America out of its criminal war in Afghanistan where puppet Karzai can sink or swim in his own cesspool, then the right thing was done.

US ‘deeply troubled’ at killings on Palestine-Syria border

NOVANEWS
 

State department calls on sides to exercise restraint as protestors declare they plan on staging sit-down near fence throughout the night

The United States said Sunday it is “deeply troubled” over clashes on the Syrian border with Palestine that reportedly resulted in 20 deaths, and called for calm on both sides.

Meanwhile, the protestors said they were planning to stage a sit-down opposite the border throughout the night.

Zio-Nazi troops opened fire as protesters from Syria on Sunday stormed a ceasefire line in the Golan Heights.

“We are deeply troubled by events that took place earlier today in the Golan Heights resulting in injuries and the loss of life,” the State Department said in a statement.

“We call for all sides to exercise restraint. Provocative actions like this should be avoided.”

The US statement emphasized that “Israel, like any sovereign nation, has a right to defend itself.”

Hundreds of protesters rushed towards the ceasefire line on Sunday, cutting through barbed wire as they tried to enter the Golan Heights in a repeat of demonstrations last month that saw thousands mass along Israel’s north.

“Despite numerous warnings, both verbal and later warning shots in the air, dozens of Syrians continue to approach the border and IDF (Israel Defense Forces) forces were left with no choice but to open fire towards the feet of protesters in efforts to deter further actions,” an Zio-Nazi spokesman told AFP.

IsraHell stealth ships in raids on Iran

NOVANEWS



 

Shipping company accused of breaking sanctions was really ferrying commandos for operations inside Iran

Uzi Mahnaimi

Cargo vessels owned by Israel’s richest man, who died on Friday, had been used to ferry elite Israeli forces for operations inside Iran, according to defence sources.

The death in Tel Aviv of Sammy Ofer, 89, came just days after the United States accused his company of breaching sanctions by selling an oil tanker to Iran. It has mystified Israelis why a company with close links to the government was allegedly breaching sanctions.

Military experts suggested the cargo ships had carried Black Hawk helicopters, hidden in modified containers, for use by commando teams in reconnaissance missions against Iran’s secret nuclear sites. Israel is conducting a massive intelligence operation to monitor Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.

By using giant freighters with helicopters and men hidden in containers on their decks, the Israeli forces would possess a logistical platform similar to a helicopter assault warship and one that could approach the Iranian coast without suspicion.

Defence sources said some ships from the group controlled by Ofer and his brother Yuli were known to have given Israeli forces access to Iranian waters.

At least 13 ships owned by the Ofer Brothers Group have docked in Iran over the past decade, using the port of Bandar Abbas on the southern coast and the Kharg Island oil terminal in the Gulf, according to Equasis, a shipping information database.

The Raffles Park, a ship sold to Iran by the Singapore-based Tanker Pacific, had docked off the Iranian shore four times between September 2002 and January 2010, according to Equasis records. The US State Department said Tanker Pacific was owned by the Ofer Group but the company has said this is “a mistake” and denied any wrongdoing.

Israel has said the matter is one between the company and the State Department and it will not back Ofer’s efforts to be removed from the American blacklist of companies found trading with Iran.

Ofer, whose fortune was estimated at $10bn (£6bn) by Forbes magazine, and Yuli built up Israel’s biggest industrial conglomerate from a ship’s chandlery business founded in the 1950s.

Last week Richard Silverstein, an American blogger who specialises in breaking Israeli defence secrets, claimed Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, used Ofer Group cargo ships to smuggle its agents into Iran.

Last year Mossad agents allegedly assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhuh, a senior Hamas militant, in his Dubai hotel room. It is now believed some of the agents left Dubai hidden in one of Ofer’s ships.

Zodiac Maritime Agencies, one of the group’s main shipping businesses, is based in London and many of its 150 vessels, which operate under charter to leading container lines, are registered in Britain.

Israeli reports suggested the Ofer Group’s contacts with Iran may have been authorised, but this was denied by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “There was no permission for any contact or delivery to Iran. We have clear policies on this matter,” he said last week.

However, in a statement after Ofer’s death, Netanyahu praised him as a “Zionist through and through”.

Meir Dagan, the recently retired head of Mossad, intervened in the controversy in a clear attempt to defend the Ofer brothers, saying “the case had been blown out of proportion”.

Israeli commandos are known to have used cargo ships before. In April 1988 an elite force left Haifa on a container ship concealing helicopters. Off the coast of Tunisia, pre-installed hydraulic doors opened and two helicopters loaded with special forces took off under the command of Moshe “Bogi” Ya’alon, now the Deputy Prime Minister.

Mossad agents waiting on shore ushered the commandos into rented cars and drove to a beachside villa where Khalil el-Wazir, the deputy leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, was working in his study.

Within minutes he was gunned down in front of his wife and children. The soldiers then returned to a different location to be flown to the ship.

Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, reported that sources close to the Ofer family had revealed that last year the company had instructed all its ships to stay away from Iran. This was interpreted as implying they had previously docked in Iranian ports.

The domestic scandal took a new turn last Tuesday when Carmel Shama-Hacohen, a member of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, cancelled a televised debate on the allegations after receiving a handwritten note, widely thought to be from state security, which warned that such a discussion could harm Israel’s interests.

While he refused to discuss the note’s contents, Shama-Hacohen stoked speculation with a cryptic statement: “Let’s just be clear, the note is not from a political figure and not from a business figure. It turns out reality is much more complex, much more complicated and touchy than the average imagination can handle.”

Maritime magnate gave millions to Britain
Sammy Ofer, the billionaire founder of the Ofer shipping line, who died last week aged 89, was an Israeli who spent much of his life in Monaco but showed enormous generosity to Britain.

Born in Romania, his family emigrated to Haifa when he was two. Ofer volunteered with the Royal Navy in the Second World War and later helped found the Israeli navy.

He created Israel’s biggest holding company, whose interests include the London-based Zodiac shipping company, and 16.5% of the Royal Caribbean line. In 2008 Ofer was made an honorary Knight of the British Empire. He gave £20m to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich — one of the largest private donations made to a British cultural institution. He also gave £3.3m towards the restoration of the Cutty Sark.

Empire or Republic. How the Empire Destroys its Own People From Joplin, Missouri to Kabul, Afghanistan

NOVANEWS

By Prof. James Petras

Global Research,

Introduction
 
On May 29, 2011, President Obama visited Joplin, Missouri , the site of a devastating tornado that killed 140 and pronounced it a terrible “tragedy”. But were the deaths the inevitable result of ‘natural events’ beyond the human intervention?
Coincidentally the same week Afghan President Karzai condemned the killing of a family of 14 by a NATO fighter bomber, running the total to several hundred civilians killed so far this year and thousands over the decade.
The relation between the civilian deaths in Joplin and Afghanistan raises fundamental questions about the priorities, character and direction of the US Empire and the future of the American republic.
Geography of Tornados
Every year at least 20 major violent tornadoes – with winds exceeding 200 mph – hit “tornado alley” and beyond, including central Texas, northern Iowa, central Kansas, Nebraska, western Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Each and every year at least sixty are killed and several hundred are maimed and injured. This year, through May 2011, over 519 have been killed, 25% of whom were in mobile homes, almost three times as many as those in standard houses.
In other words, these tornado-related deaths are predictable, annual, and region-specific and have a higher incidence among low income households. Government agencies and academics have compiled data banks and time series information mapping the route, frequency and impact of tornadoes.
Information about the nature of killer tornadoes is plentiful. Nevertheless deaths mount from year to year. Fear and insecurity stalks the region’s most susceptible to the violent whirlwinds, even as the Congress and White House have increased personnel and funding for ‘Homeland Security’ twenty fold over the decade .The current budget is over $180 billion. If we add the deaths caused by other ‘natural’ disasters like the flooding of New Orleans , the numbers of deaths are staggering. What explains this perverse relation between huge public funding for ‘homeland security’ and the increased insecurity of vulnerable Americans in clearly identified danger zones?
The reason is clear: ‘Homeland Security’ (HS) is an Orwellian misnomer. The agency is not concerned with domestic, civilian, American security. HS is part of a military-police response to imagined overseas threats, which have not materialized or at least have not produced deaths comparable to tornadoes and floods in the last 11 years.
HS spends billions and employs thousands to investigate, spy and harass citizens engaged in legal-constitutional activities. HS and the Pentagon spend tens of billions on overseas infrastructures – buildings, bases, camps -and over 900 billion in arms. HS and the Defense Department forcefully intervene militarily throughout the world via overt and clandestine operations.
To be precise HS intervenes offensively overseas, attacking civilian targets, while it fails to engage domestically to protect American civilians who are left defenseless in the face of predictable natural disasters.
HS and the Pentagon’s sustained violent overseas operations are rejected and regarded as a hostile imperial intervention by the civilians in those countries adversely affected. In contrast, defenseless citizens in the US would welcome large-scale intervention in the form of community shelters, which would provide survival, security, life-saving protection and financial aid for rebuilding their lives. Moreover, Pentagon and HS spending on overseas infrastructure, bases and bombs results in deficits, whereas investments in tornado and flood shelters would stimulate jobs, growth and investment in the US .
The current activity of HS destroys lives abroad and neglects survival at home: It has nothing to do with our “homeland” and even less with our “security”. Five percent of HS budget would have prevented many of Joplin ’s ‘tragedy’ (and saved us from Obama’s gaseous oratory!) and the other 400 deaths from this year’s crop of tornadoes.
Systemic Bases of Perpetual Domestic Neglect
Death from ‘natural’ events raises a fundamental POLITICAL question: Why is the budget of Homeland Security and the Pentagon directed overseas, toward destructive, offensive, military activity rather than to domestic, constructive, defensive activity to protect American lives and productive economic activity?
The problem is systemic not due to some personal flaw or political idiosyncrasy of the moment. The structures of the US economy and military institutions are oriented ‘outwardly’ to conquering foreign financial markets and building a military empire. The ideology which informs strategic policymakers is imperial-centered not republican: They do not speak of developing and deepening the economy and security of ‘ middle America ’. Every member of the political and corporate elite talks of ‘world’ or ‘global’ leadership – a thinly veiled euphemism for the drive to sustain world dominance.
Within the imperial framework the entire ‘security’ budget is directed toward maintaining offensive military supremacy. No wonder there is a steep decline in all spheres of domestic security – natural, social, personal, health and employment –a phenomenon that proceeds with little public debate. The only exception is when threats to security impinge most directly and forcefully on a significant sector of the population. For example, witness the storm of protest from those directly affected when the politicians moved to privatize social security and Medicare.
Nevertheless, the entire political spectrum, the two parties, the Congress and the White House over the past 30 years, have created an artificial consensus in which overseas wars, foreign aid to patrons (Israel) and clients (Pakistan and Egypt) absorbs the greatest percentage of budgetary spending. No political or economic leadership has stepped forward to articulate the obvious connection between global expansion and domestic decay; to forcefully state that the deterioration of the republic is a direct product of the vast resources channeled into military and economic empire building. Who on New York City ’s Wall Street or Washington ’s Pentagon is going to even look at or consider a ‘security plan’ with regard to the geography of catastrophes – tornado alley covering a dozen states and the floods and deaths that overwhelm the lowlands from Montana to Louisiana ?
Listen America
Their message is loud and clear:
Small towns and trailer parks do not count! You have your 2nd amendment (the ‘right to bear arms’), you have your ‘small government’, and you have your flags: ‘Wav ‘em and weep’ as tornadoes blow down your houses and your sons and daughters return wrapped in flags to the Battle Hymn of the Empire!
Conclusion
One might argue that community storm shelters won’t break the Treasury or reverse the empire. More to the point, their absence, from the federal, state and local political agenda, is emblematic of the total subordination of domestic America to imperial Washington . The ‘cost’ of building community shelters at the strip malls and trailer parks in Joplin , Missouri is less than a regional training outpost in Kandahar , Afghanistan . It is not a question of money.
Conquering Afghanistan villages enhances the prestige of the Generals, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and NATO officials. Can saving 145 lives in Joplin , Missouri match that in terms of world politics or the politics of imperial leadership? For Afghanistan , Washington builds a thousand military shelters and bomb proof bunkers .For the Americans living in tornado alley and the flood plains of the Mississippi people must make do.
When you hear the tornado warning, it’s up to you. As a proud, free American you can find a rock to crawl under and say your prayer: the Federal government and Homeland Security have the Endless, World-wide War against Terror to fight and cannot be bothered by a Joplin , Missouri nursing home in the path of a tornado.
We exaggerate: Obama will jet in and speak before the cameras in solemn terms of the ‘tragedy’ and ‘courage’ of the people of Joplin … But will any local politician stand up and speak truth to power? Most of these deaths and (many more to come) are avoidable; under a democratic American republic, the government ‘intervenes’ to provide protection, health and employment for its people.
In the meantime, as the empire continues to grow it destroys its own people, just like the sow that devours its offspring.
 

FRANKLIN LAMB: ISRAELIS RUSH FOR SECOND PASSPORTS

NOVANEWS

“The number of Israelis thinking of leaving Palestine is climbing rapidly according to researchers, while many more, with actual millennial roots but victims of ethnic cleansing, prepare to exercise their right of Return.”
By FRANKLIN LAMB/Al-Manar
Beirut
Perhaps historians or cultural anthropologists surveying the course of human events can identify for us a land, in addition to Palestine, where such a large percentage of a recently arrived colonial population prepared to exercise their right to depart, while many more, with actual millennial roots but victims of ethnic cleansing, prepared to exercise their right of Return.
One of the many ironies inherent in the 19th century Zionist colonial enterprise in Palestine is the fact that this increasingly fraying project was billed for most of the 20th century as a haven in the Middle East for “returning” persecuted European Jews.  But today, in the 21st century, it is Europe that is increasingly being viewed by a large number of the illegal occupiers of Palestinian land as the much desired haven for returning Middle Eastern Jews.
To paraphrase Jewish journalist Gideon Levy “If our forefathers dreamt of an Israeli passport to escape from Europe, there are many among us who are now dreaming of a second passport to escape to Europe.
Is this how the Zionist project might end?
Several studies in Israel and one conducted by AIPAC and another by the Jewish National  Fund in Germany show that perhaps as many as half of the Jews living in Israel will consider leaving Palestine in the next few years if current political and social trends continue.  A 2008 survey by the Jerusalem-based Menachem Begin Heritage Center found that 59% of Israelis had approached or intended to approach a foreign embassy to inquire about or apply for citizenship and a passport. Today it is estimated that the figure is approaching 70%.
The number of Israelis thinking of leaving Palestine is climbing rapidly according to researchers at Bar-Ilan University who conducted a study published recently in Eretz Acheret, (“A Different Place”)   an Israeli NGO that claims to promote cultural dialogue.  What the Bar-Ilan study found is that more than 100,000 Israelis already hold a German passport, and this figure increases by more than 7,000 every year along an accelerating trajectory. According to German officials, more than 70,000 such passports have been granted since 2000.
In addition to Germany, there are more than one million Israelis with other foreign passports at the ready in case life in Israel deteriorates.  One of the most appealing countries for Israelis contemplating emigration, as well as perhaps the most welcoming, is the United States. Currently more than 500,000 Israelis hold US passports with close to a quarter million pending applications.
During the recent meetings in Washington DC between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s delegation and Israel’s US agents, assurances were reportedly given by AIPAC officials that if and when it becomes necessary, the US government will expeditiously issue American passports to any and all Israeli Jews seeking them.
Israeli Arabs need not apply.
AIPAC also represented to their Israeli interrogators that the US Congress could be trusted to approve funding for arriving Israeli Jews “to be allocated substantial cash resettlement grants to ease transition into their new country.”
Apart from the Israeli Jews who may be thinking of getting an “insurance passport” for a Diaspora land, there is a similar percentage of Jews worldwide who aren’t going to make aliyah. According to Jonathan Rynhold, a Bar Ilan professor specializing on U.S.-Israel relations, Jews may be safer in Teheran than Ashkelon these days—until Israel or the USA starts bombing Iran.
Interviews with some of those who either helped conduct the above noted studies or have knowledge of them, identify several factors that explain the Israeli rush for foreign passports, some rather surprising, given the ultra-nationalist Israeli culture.
The common denominator is unease and anxiety, both personal and national, with the second passport considered a kind of insurance policy “for the rainy days visible on the horizon,” as one researcher from Eretz Acheret explained.
Other factors include:
The fact that two or three generations in Israel has not proven enough to implant roots where few if any existed before. For this reason Israel has produced a significant percentage of “re-immigration” — a return of immigrants or their descendants to their country of origin which Zionist propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding, is not Palestine.
Fear that religious fanatics from among the more than 600,000 settlers in the West Bank will create civil war and essentially annex pre-1967 Israel and turn Israel more toward an ultra-fascist state.
Centripetal pressures within Israeli society, especially among Russian immigrants who overwhelmingly reject Zionism. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, some one million Jews have come to Israel from the former Soviet Union, enlarging the country’s population by 25 percent and forming the largest concentration in the world of Russian Jews. But today, Russian Jews comprise the largest group emigrating from Israel and they have been returning in droves for reasons ranging from opposition to Zionism, discrimination, and broken promises regarding employment and “the good life” in Israel.
Approximately 200,000 or 22% of Russians coming to Israel since 1990 have so far returned to their country.  According to Rabbi Berel Larzar, who has been Russia’s chief Rabbi since 2000, “It’s absolutely extraordinary how many people are returning. When Jews left, there was no community, no Jewish life. People felt that being Jewish was an historical mistake that happened to their family. Now, they know they can live in Russia as part of a community and they don’t need Israel.”
No faith in or respect for Israeli leaders, most of whom are considered corrupt.
Feelings of anxiety and guilt that Zionism has hijacked Judaism and that traditional Jewish values are being corrupted.
The increasing difficulty of providing coherent answers to one’s children, as they become more educated and aware of their family history, and indeed honesty to oneself, on the question of why families from Europe and elsewhere are living on land and in homes stolen from others who obviously are local and did not come from some other place around the World.
The recent growing appreciation, for many Israelis, significantly abetted by the Internet and the continuing Palestinian resistance, of the compelling and challenging Palestinians’ narrative that totally undermines the Zionist clarion of the last century of “ A Land without a People for a People without a Land.’
Fear mongering of the political leaders designed to keep citizens supporting the government’s policies ranging from the Iranian bomb, the countless ‘Terrorists” seemingly everywhere and planning another Holocaust, or various existential threats that keep families on edge and concluding that they don’t want to raise their children under such conditions.
Explaining that he was speaking as a private citizen and not as a member of Democrats Abroad Israel, New York native Hillel Schenker suggested that Jews who come to Israel “want to make sure that they have the possibility of an alternative to return whence they came.”  He added that the “insecurities involved in modern life, and an Israel not yet living at peace with any of its neighbors, have also produced a phenomenon of many Israelis seeking a European passport, based on their family roots, just in case.”
Gene Schulman, a Senior American-Jewish fellow at the Switzerland-based Overseas American Academy, put it even more drastically, emphasizing that all Jews are “scared to death of what is probably going to become of Israel even if the U.S. continues its support for it.”
Many observers of Israeli society agree that a major, if unexpected recent impetus for Jews to leave Palestine has been the past three months of the Arab Awakening that overturned Israel’s key pillars of regional support.
According to Layal,  a Palestinian student from Shatila Camp, who is preparing for the June 5th “Naksa” march to the Blueline in South Lebanon: “What the Zionist occupiers of Palestine saw from Tahir Square in Cairo to Maroun al Ras in South Lebanon has convinced many Israelis that the Arab and Palestinian resistance, while still in its nascence, will develop into a massive and largely peaceful ground swell, such that no amount of weapons or apartheid administration can insure a Zionist future in Palestine. They are right to seek alternative places to raise their families.”
____________________

source:http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2011/06/hundreds-of-thousands-prepare-to.html

NAHIDA THE EXILED PALESTINIAN: JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE? REALLY??

NOVANEWS

GILAD ATZMON
 

Gilad Atzmon: This is a very important informative piece. I suggest anyone who is interested in Palestine  to take the time and follow the links. Once again, a Palestinian identifies  the enemy within.

Source:

http://uprootedpalestinians.

Nahida the Exiled Palestinian:

It appears that, yet again, Anti-zionist Jewish organizations are trying to silence Palestine’s supporters, to frame the debate, tosecure the future of their brethren in occupied Palestine and to steer the course of Liberation of our Homeland

I would invite people to hear a Palestinian voice, here:
A strategy of liberation requires emancipation
* No decent human-being would demand to live on STOLEN land and still claims to have a fiber of morality.
* No decent human-being could claim that the perpetrator should have the same rights as the victim while claiming to be a humanist.
* Palestinians are under no obligation to hold back their march for freedom, to curtail their aims or to smother their rights for the sake of accommodating and not offending their Jewish supporters.
* Palestinians are always grateful and appreciative of the hard work and dedication of all their supporters whomever they are, however, Palestinians have NO obligation to adopt the aims and objectives of the anti-zionist Jewish supporters instead of their own.
* Dismissing the Palestinian voice as radical, reactionary, intolerant, or unreasonable, and requiring instead the Jewish-anti-zionist stamp of approval to have legitimacy to speak for Palestine, is preposterous and contradicts basic concepts of human rights and does not do justice to Palestinians.
* Palestinians have the ultimate right to choose their vision for their future, of a FREE and sovereign Palestine including the type of government, the writing of constitution, the construction and implementation of their legal and juristic system, which stems from and corresponds to their ethics and reflects and protects their culture.
* Palestinians have the ultimate right to make the final decision on who is allowed to stay in liberated Palestine and who is not, using the legal procedure of their own choice.
* The future of the Palestinian struggle and the aim of liberation of Palestine should not be designed to shield the occupier from paying the full price of his crimes; including the punishment of all those who participated in transgression, and the deportation of the illegitimate Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants who colonized Palestine forcefully and were engaged in acts of aggression against Palestinians including serving in the IOF.
* All refugee and their descendents have the unconditional right to come back home, they as the rightful indigenous owners are also entitled to the reinstatement of ALL confiscated (stolen) land and property, compensation for all their losses over the many years of exile and they are also entitled to Palestinian citizenship wherever they are.
* The aims and aspirations of most Palestinians are not confined to the change of zionist regime or the vacuous declaration of abandonment of zionism by the Jewish-zionist occupiers, but rather to the FULL Liberation of Palestine and the restoration of all their rights.
* It is the privilege of Palestinians to decide who should stay in their homeland and who not.
* After a century of terror, theft and crimes; had the Zionist shown any signs of remorse, respect or willingness to be decent guests, had they embraced with open arms the hospitable people of Palestine rather than destroying them with fire-arms; they might have had a chance to be accepted and forgiven. Not any more, as far as I am concerned. They have lost that opportunity.
As a Palestinian, I see the role of any “Jewish voice for peace” who sincerely desire to contribute to the Liberation of Palestine and justice for Palestinians, and who desire to be identified through their contributions “as Jews”, then their role ought to be focused on cleaning their own house before sorting other people’s houses; i.e. that is to exclude any major role in influencing, leading or directing the Solidarity and/or Liberation Movement of Palestine.
Through taking a leading role in campaigning to blacklist publications, label intellectuals and limit the spectrum of debate by censoring topics which they deem “controversial”; by framing the debate they act against intellectual integrity, box Palestinians and their supporters mentally and knowingly or not act as gatekeepers. They force people to self-censorship to avoid been accused of antisemitism; hence preventing them from acquiring, sharing or discussing information freely that would allow them to make their own informed decisions.
Palestinians’ grievances against the zionist theft of their land do by no means justify antisemitism accusations, Palestinians and their supporters are no lesser human beings, they are well capable to sieve through information and make their own evaluation, henceforth it is completely unacceptable that some of our anti-zionist Jewish supporters try to dictate to Palestinians:
who they should accept as a supporter and who should they boycott;
what speaker to invite and whose lecture to avoid;
who they should consider progressive and who can be labeledreactionary;
what religion and religious group are above all criticism and what faith is deemed to be “backward looking and inherently unable to deliver progress”;
what books should be read, and which articles should be thrown away;
what narrative of events should be adopted as “reasonable” and which should be considered a “conspiracy theory”;
what chapter of history should be seen as a “dogmatic unquestionable religion”; and which one should be seen as “hoax”or as a “useless hateful rumors”;
what course of action should be taken and which one should be dismissed a “distraction”;
Furthermore, when censorship is practiced, when some books become forbidden and certain speakers are silenced, it appears to any self-respecting free-thinker that their brain, their ability to analyze and evaluate are being demeaned and patronized.
Rather than wasting their energy campaigning to ostracize or silence some of the most outspoken allies and honest supporters of Palestine, they should rather direct their efforts towards theirOWN communities where the rot is anchored and festering: wheresupremacist ideologies reign supreme, chauvinistic anti-humanist beliefs flourish, delusional concepts entrenched and fostered, and criminal Mossadic activities thrive, and where mossers areostracized and sayanim are promoted.
This ought to be our Jewish allies’ battlefield.
It is only in this specifically Jewish frame of activity, that separate organizations identified as exclusively Jewish can affect significant change and eventually their claim to speak in the name of their Jewishness be vindicated.

On the contrary, when specifically Jewish organizations or activists ubiquitously claim to be the true representative of Jewish people, or the voice of Judaism, whereas they are but a tiny, minute, insignificant and ineffective minority, and what is more an ostracized and despised minority amidst their larger Jewish communities, then these Jewish organizations by making their false claim of representing Jews or Judaism as they bravely expose Israeli crimes, are projecting nothing less than a smoke screen deflecting from the sinister racist ideology which hasproduced Zionism in the first place.

Is this the Jewish community? or is it this?

Since it is quite obvious that the Jewish members of organizations who claim to be Anti-Zionist, rarely are -if ever, active members of their local Jewish communities and when they try to reach out, they are generally rejected;
since they pretend that exposing the ideologies and activities of their community is a “distraction”;
since they accuse of being “anti-semite” whomever questions the thriving racism and the powerful lobby within the Jewish communities and
since they fail to infiltrate the nefarious Judeo-Zionist network in order to affect real change from within:
therefore the claim that they speak for the Jewish people or Judaism is invalid, and the only reasonable consequence is to dissolve their separate “Jewish only” Anti-Zionist or Pro-Palestinian organizations, in order to become an integral part of the Solidarity Movement.

Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

 

‘NYT’ editors briefly flagellate themselves for their role in fomenting Iraq war– then move on!

Jun 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

My wife’s in a bad mood tonight. She says part of the reason is she heard Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, and his named successor, Jill Abramson, talking about the Iraq war today on NPR’s “On the Media.”

Set the scene. My wife had just been driving around our small town. She ran into people who aren’t doing well. A yoga instructor about to declare bankruptcy. A friend out of work for a year, another friend about to lose her house. Then back into the NPRmobile yes of course a Subaru and she heard the Times’s two top editors talking about Iraq. Brooke Gladstone of “On the Media” asked Bill Keller about the May 2004 editor’s letter apologizing, but oh so properly, for the Times coverage that had paved the way for the war in Iraq.

Keller [solemnus voce]: I think both Jill and I would probably put that at the top of our list of things we wish we’d done differently, that is to say, things that we wish we’d done sooner. I think it would have been wiser and healthier for the paper and its credibility if I’d taken that bull by the horns first thing and said, you know what, we screwed up here, and the way we screwed up was we fell too hard for the conventional wisdom about Saddam Hussein and we let some of the reporting run a little wild.

Abramson: I completely agree.

My wife was enraged. She said, We’re in three wars right now, and no one knows what they’re about, and This is all the Times editors give us by way of apology.

They supported the war, I said. Keller did. Should they step down? Nick Lemann (dean of the Columbia School of Journalism) spoke at Columbia a couple of years ago and said that of all the people writing at the New Yorker in 2003, he was the only one to oppose the Iraq war

Yes. So it’s institutionalized, she said.

Makes me want to hurl. Makes you want to hurl, right? And it’s the moral hazard: when the elite are so removed from the actual consequences of a decision to go to war, that it’s an idle decision to them whether an Arab society is destroyed and millions displaced and 100,000 or more killed. What are the actual consequences to them? Well if there was a draft, if their kids were actually at some risk of going– no, no chance of that.

Just a chance that: Our correction of our fucked-up Judy Miller coverage came a little too late. Sorry about that.

(Yes and why did she produce that coverage? Where did it come from?)

P.S. After Larry Eagleburger died the other day, they had Leslie Gelb formerly of the Times now of the Council on Foreign Relations eulogizing him on NPR, and Gelb said that Eagleburger had been brave to oppose the Iraq war in the face of all the establishment pressure to support it. But this is precisely why Gelb supported the war, out of careerist instinct. And that is why I support the draft. So the decision-makers have something at risk.

Unarmed protesters scramble to rescue the wounded at fence in the occupied Golan

Jun 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

Thanks to Ali Abunimah for posting this amazing video (and Kate for grabbing it):

Reports say Israel killed 20 protesters today at fence of occupied Golan

Jun 05, 2011

Kate

and other news from Today in Palestine:

Naksa Day

’14 dead’ as Israel opens fire on Golan
MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights (AFP) 5 June 20:18 — Israeli troops opened fire on Sunday as protesters from Syria stormed a ceasefire line in the occupied Golan Heights, with Damascus saying 14 demonstrators were killed. Hundreds of protesters rushed towards the ceasefire line, cutting through barbed wire as they tried to enter the occupied Golan Heights in a repeat of demonstrations last month that saw thousands mass along the line separating Israeli-controlled territory from Syria … In Majdal Shams, Israeli troops opened fire as demonstrators sought to push through the mined ceasefire line, which had been reinforced with several rows of barbed wire blocking access to a fence since the 15 May demonstration … Updating an earlier toll, Syrian state media reported that 14 people were killed, including a woman and child, and more than 220 wounded. The Israeli military said it was aware of 12 casualties. The Israeli military also said that a person was wounded when at least one landmine exploded on Syria’s side of the heights … Elsewhere, around 100 people demonstrated in central Hebron in the southern West Bank, while dozens of protesters tried to march from the northern West Bank village of Deir Al-Hatab to the nearby Elon Moreh settlement. In Gaza, Hamas police arrested around a dozen protesters who broke away from a rally at the northern town of Beit Hanoun, and tried to march to the Erez border crossing with Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=393932
VIDEO: Syrian death toll climbs: Majdal Shams joins riots
Ynet 5 May 21:03 — Golan Heights residents have joined ‘Naksa Day’ riots on Sunday after hours of clashes. Majdal Shams residents began hurling concrete blocks at security forces after gas grenades were used to drive away Syrian protesters approaching the border. IDF and police forces responded by using gas grenades against the Druze village residents. Meanwhile, Syrian state TV says at least 20 people have been killed and 325 others wounded by Israeli gunfire along the border.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4078644,00.html
Report: Up to 20 protesters killed as hundreds of Syrians storm Israel border
[9 photos] Haaretz/Reuters 5 June 18:58 — Four mines reportedly exploded near Syrian town of Quneitra, injuring many of the hundreds of protesters who gathered on Israeli border to mark 44 years since beginning of 1967 Six-Day War.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-up-to-18-protesters-killed-as-hundreds-of-syrians-storm-israel-border-1.366068
Israeli left-wing leader: IDF used excessive force in Naksa Day protests
Haaretz 5 June 14:29 — Uri Avneri, former MK and activist with the Gush Shalom left-wing organization, said Sunday that the IDF used excessive force against the protesters in the Golan Heights. “The trigger-happy behavior stands out in particular when compared to the softness with which violent settlers are treated,” he said.  Avneri conceded that a country has a right to defend its borders and prevent illegal entrance to its territory, yet added that “in order to effectively protect its borders, the state should first know where its borders are and have them recognized by the international community – and this is a decision which Israel has been avoiding for years.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-left-wing-leader-idf-used-excessive-force-in-naksa-day-protests-1.366094

Hundreds of Palestinians clash with IDF in West Bank Naksa Day protests
Haaretz 5 June 20:04 — IDF soldiers fire tear gas at stone-throwing protesters in Druze village of Majdal Shams, where demonstrations were held marking 44 years since onset of Six-Day War … Elsewhere in the West Bank, Palestinians were reportedly demonstrating in the Baka al-Sharkiyeh across the border from the Israeli Arab town of Baka al-Garbiyeh …Demonstrators gathered at a gas station near the village of Isawiyah in East Jerusalem early Sunday, hurling rocks at the security forces. One police officer was injured and at least 13 protesters were arrested during those clashes, some of them with the aid of a helicopter team. Palestinians demonstrating near Mount Scopus in Jerusalem hurled firebombs at the back of the Hadassah University Hospital. No one was wounded in the incident and there were no reports of damage.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hundreds-of-palestinians-clash-with-idf-in-west-bank-naksa-day-protest-1.366076
Israel quashes protest at Qalandiya checkpoint
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 5 June 19:02 — An estimated 300 Palestinians gathered at the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem were met with tear gas and rubber-coated bullets on Sunday, as they marked the 44th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. “To Jerusalem we go,” read signs held by protesters, who marched to the checkpoint separating the central West Bank from Jerusalem, located on the route of the separation wall, built some 5 kilometers on the Palestinian side of the 1967 border … At least two protesters were seriously injured, and at least 37 were treated in ambulances for tear-gas inhalation, medics said. A medic with the Palestinian Red Crescent told Ma‘an that 10 had been evacuated by ambulance, saying several had been hit by rubber-coated bullets.
In the northern Gaza Strip, demonstrators marched from Beit Hanoun toward the Erez crossing, but Hamas police erected checkpoints to stop protesters reaching Israel’s border. Tens of demonstrators who tried to break away and march north clashed with Hamas police, who detained at least a dozen.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=393931
90 Palestinians injured by Israeli soldiers in Qalandia
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 5 June 17:48 — 90 Palestinians, protesting in commemoration of the 44th anniversary of the Naksa day; the June 5, 1967 war, Sunday were injured during confrontations with Israeli soldiers at Qalandia checkpoint, according to witnesses.  Israeli soldiers’ attempts to storm the Qalandia refugee camp were foiled by Palestinians who throw stones, empty glass bottles and sharp objects at the soldiers, forcing them to retreat toward their military borders. Confrontations are continuing widely in that area until now. Activists of al Aqsa ambulance committee said that soldiers are firing a new kind of toxic tear gas bombs; causing fainting, losing control of limbs and eye burns of various degrees. These bombs have a stronger impact than the ones usually used by Israeli soldiers in similar confrontations. Soldiers also used vehicles carrying contaminated water with foul odors and colors. Doctors explained that these products are really harmful; they pollute the environment as well as they require an immediate cleansing of streets and washing the affected person with medical disinfectants, lest of getting poisoned
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16351
Israeli soldiers stop march commemorating Naksa Day in Bethlehem
BETHELEHM (WAFA) 5 June 14:27 — Israeli soldiers Sunday surrounded and prevented a Palestinian march commemorating the 44th anniversary of the Naksa day; the June 5, 1967 war, in Al Walaja, a village west of Bethlehem. Chairman of the village’s council, Salih Khalifa, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers prevented the march from moving forward to reach the confiscated Ein Jweza, an  area in Bethlehem, through severely beating Palestinian protesters while firing tear gas bombs, causing several suffocation cases. He added that dozens of Israeli soldiers are also surrounding protesters near Der Cremisan, an area north of Bethlehem.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16346
Palestinians in Lebanon commemorate Naksa Day
REFUGEE CAMPS (WAFA) 5 June 16:32 — Palestinian refugees in Lebanon Sunday commemorated the 44th anniversary of  the June 5, 1967 war, which Palestinians refer to as Naksa Day. Palestinian Popular committees and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) factions in Ein El-Helwa, a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, organized a public rally in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) office. Palestinian and Lebanese officials and representatives of political factions participated in the rally, along with residents of Ein El-Helwa  and Mieh Mieh refugee camps.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16348
Gaza – under siege for 1,453 days now
Palestinians close Gaza border
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 June — Palestinian officials closed the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the terminal’s director Ayyoub Abu Sha‘ar said. Closed out of frustration, Abu Sha‘ar said the Egyptian authority’s ‘mechanism’ at the terminal was unclear, citing Egypt’s decision to close the crossing on Saturday without coordinating with Palestinian officials. He said said operations had been halted after disagreements about capacity and coordination, and would not resume until officials on both sides came to an agreement on its operation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=393821
Gazan dies of wounds sustained in 2006
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A Palestinian was pronounced dead in an Egyptian hospital on Saturday, with doctors telling Ma‘an he died of wounds sustained by Israeli fire during the 2006 incursion. Mohammad Nabil Abu A‘qel was shot in the chest during the summer of 2006 and suffered severe internal bleeding and lung problems, with the bullet penetrating into the central tissue of the lung, doctors explained …
Following the capture of an Israeli soldier in June 2006, Israeli forces waged an offensive on the coastal enclave, named Operation Summer Rains, in an attempt to pressure the captors of the soldier to release him to his family. More than a month of air and artillery strikes saw the power station hit repeatedly, cutting electricity to the the central Strip. More than 400 were killed and estimates put the injured over 1,000.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=393999
Israel allows limited goods into Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 June — Israeli authorities will allow limited deliveries of goods and humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday through the southernmost Kerem Shalom crossing, Palestinian officials said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=393812
Israel to close Karem Abu Salem crossing for 2 days
Gaza Strip, (Pal Telegraph) 5 June — Israeli authorities announced today to close Karem Abu Salem [Kerem Shalom] crossing on Tuesday and Wednesday because of the Jewish holidays …Karem Abu Salem crossing is currently the only point for Gazans to transfer their goods, especially after Israeli decision to close permanently Al-Montar [Karni] crossing which was dedicated for the import of fuel and feed. [Which holidays this time? Has there ever been a society with more holidays? Bad luck for the Palestinians]
http://www.paltelegraph.com/economics/pal-economics/9351-israel-to-close-karem-abu-salem-crossing-for-2-days.html
Gazans stage sit-in demanding entry of Malaysian aid consignment
GAZA, (PIC) 5 June — Tens of Palestinians staged a sit-in in Wadi Gaza on Saturday asking the Egyptian authorities to allow entry of a shipment of Malaysian aid to the Gaza Strip. They distributed a statement during the sit-in asking Cairo to allow the Malaysian ship anchoring at El-Arish to offload its shipment that is sent to build a sewage network in Wadi Gaza area, which is populated by 50,000 people.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Ministry of Interior denies Jerusalem ID to newborn baby
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 5 June — Local mother Reham Nabil Abbassi is fighting for the right of new newborn baby Noor to gain her official Jerusalem residency. Noor was born on 17 November 2010, five months in to the father’s 10 year prison sentence. And while Noor was issued with a birth certificate in hospital, the Ministry of Interior has thus far refused to issue her with her Jerusalem ID number. Reham, 21, waited the legal limit of 20 days for an ID card to be issued for her daughter. 4 months later she finally received word from the Ministry of Interior that only a son has the right to inherit Jerusalem residency from Noor’s father — as Reham herself holds Palestinian identification (a green ID card) as opposed to Noor’s father’s Jerusalem (blue) identification. Said Reham: “Noor’s father is sentenced to 10 years, and he cannot commence legal proceedings on Noor’s behalf until his release. This will affect everythin in her life — she won’t even be able to come to prison with me to visit her father, if she has no ID card. She will not be able to move through the city or even access her right to education in Jerusalem.”
http://silwanic.net/?p=17899
Israeli forces kidnap three Palestinian children in Silwan
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 5 June — Three Palestinian children Sunday were kidnapped by an Israeli special force in Wadi al-Rababa, an area in Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, witnesses said. The children have not been identified yet. Meanwhile, several units of undercover Israeli soldiers disguised as Palestinians are trying to arrest protesters in several areas in Silwan. In addition, Israel soldiers fired sound and toxic tear gas bombs at protesters who responded by throwing stones and empty glass bottles.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16352
Bir Ayyub resident to be detained 6 months before sentencing
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 5 June — Mohammed Odeh, a Bir Ayyub man arrested by Israeli forces last week was ordered by the Israeli Magistrates Court today to be detained a further six months to await sentencing. Odeh faces charges laid by state prosecution – charges that are clearly fabricated and reveal the collusion between the Israeli state and judiciary. The father of three was arrested by Israeli forces while returning from a shopping trip in Bir Ayyub district of Silwan. Odeh, 36, was accosted by an Israeli patrol jeep while carrying a bag of tomatoes home. Odeh has been targeted by Israeli authorities in the past in an attempt to recruit him as a collaborator, but Odeh strenuously resisted.
http://silwanic.net/?p=17895
2,500 Israeli youth march through Nablus district
AIC 5 June — More than 2,500 Israeli youth from settlement schools throughout the northern West Bank marched on Thursday 2 June through the Nablus District. The march, conducted under the title “Decade and Back”, was conducted under the auspices of the Israeli education system and marked the “year of Joseph’s Tomb” in the Israeli West Bank settlement schools … Although this area is ostensibly under full control of the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli settlers and army did not request permission to enter or even coordinate with PA officials. Many of the settlers screamed racist slogans from the rooftop of the tomb while others entered Nablus itself, attacking local homes. Addressing the children at the conclusion of the march, Samaria Municipal Council Head Gershon Mesika said that “In the march we all saw this beautiful area of ours and how much open space there is to establish more flourishing communities…throughout Samaria. With God’s help we can return to Joseph’s Tomb.”
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3646-2500-israeli-youth-march-through-nablus-district-
Urgent: Funding needed for JVS solidarity schools.
Jordan Valley Solidarity 5 June — The funding has come to an end to run the JVS’ solidarity schools. We currently have three solidarity tent school projects in Ein Il Hilwe, Ras Al Awja and Meqhoul with over 100 kids and 10 teachers. The schools were forced to take their summer leaves early due to lack of funds. We are now unable to pay for the teachers expenses. These schools were built and run by volunteers and most of the resources are donations … To know more about our Solidarity schools click here: For the last six years Jordan Valley Solidarity (JVS) have been working with local communities to challenge the control that Israeli military commanders have over their children’s education.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=282:urgent-funding-needed-for-jvs-solidarity-schools&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Settling into humiliation / Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
JERUSALEM (IPS) 5 June — For 61-year-old Abd al-Rahim Bisharat, life in the Bedouin community of al- Hadidiya in the northern Jordan Valley is anything but easy. “The problem is not only poverty, but the degree of how (the Israelis) treat us as humans, our rights as humans,” Bisharat told IPS over the phone from his home, with the sound of roosters crowing in the background … The most troubling aspect of daily life, however, involves Israeli settlers and the Israeli soldiers and police that protect them, he said. “”As we know, the police all around the world is the body that protects the law, but here, the settlers, all they have to do is to call the police when they want to attack one of us,” Bisharat said. “The settler only has to make a phone call and then do nothing but stand there and watch the humiliation of the Palestinian, while the police and the military are beating the Palestinian up. All of our trouble comes from the settler.”
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55930
Jewish settlers destroy vineyard in Beit Ummar
HEBRON (WAFA) 4 June — Jewish settlers from Bay Ayin settlement, which is constructed on Palestinian land belonging to Beit Ummar, a village north of Hebron, Saturday destroyed a vineyard in the village, according to a local activist. Muhammad Awad, member of the National Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, said settlers regularly damage crops and uproot trees in the area with a goal to force Palestinian farmers to leave their land as a prelude to seizing it.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16340
Detention / Court action
Report: Israel arrests 370 Palestinians in May 2011
GAZA, (PIC) 5 June — A report prepared by Gaza’s prisoner affairs ministry says 370 Palestinians were arrested during raids in the Palestinian territories in May 2011. Those arrested include 40 minors, five women, two Palestinian Legislative Council members, and 20 foreign pro-Palestinian activists. Al-Khalil city in southern West Bank was a main focus for arrests, with 75 of its locals nabbed.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
West Bank court indicts Palestinian teens for murder of Fogel family
Haaretz 5 June — Two Palestinians charged with the murder of five members of the Fogel family in Itamar were indicted in a West Bank military court on Sunday. The suspects, Amjad Awad,19, and Hakim Awad, 18, confessed to the murder and the military prosecution in the case say there is forensic evidence linking them to the scene of the crime, including DNA samples and fingerprints …According to the indictment, the murder was premeditated, with the suspects observing the settlement from their nearby village of Awarta in order to obtain details about the security system at Itamar. They obtained four knives for the purpose of carrying out the attack. Before leaving to carry out the murder, the suspects reportedly photographed themselves in the manner that terrorists do before carrying out a terror attack.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/west-bank-court-indicts-palestinian-teens-with-murder-of-fogel-family-1.366113
Israeli investigators used ‘spinning cell’ to elicit confession
RAMALLAH (PIC) 5 June — Israeli authorities used plastic cells that resemble a mixing device to force confessions out of detainees, the popular movement to support the prisoners and Palestinian rights has revealed. It said that Fatima Younis Hassan al-Zeq was tortured with one of these devices when apprehended at the Beit Hanoun crossing in northern Gaza Strip on 20 May 2007. She said the cell spun violently for more than a quarter of an hour and stopped repeatedly for hours as the officer — who she couldn’t see because she was in a squatting position — yelled.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Bardawil: Nothing new in exchange deal
GAZA (PIC) 5 June — Hamas leader Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil has denied any new progress in the prisoners’ exchange deal between his movement and Israel, describing press reports in this regard as “media speculations”.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Racism / Discrimination
‘More Israeli Arabs would have been killed in 2000 riots had I been in charge’
Haaretz 5 June — The mayor of Upper Nazareth told a Nazareth-based Arabic newspaper that his town will never be a mixed Arab-Jewish city, despite the fact that 16 percent of its residents are Arab. In an interview on Friday, Mayor Shimon Gapso also told the weekly Kul al-Arab that a mosque would never be built in Upper Nazareth.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/more-israeli-arabs-would-have-been-killed-in-2000-riots-had-i-been-in-charge-1.365954
WAFA monitors incitement and racism in Israeli media, May 20-26
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 5 June — … ‘Yated Neeman’ religious newspaper published a report by Hvroni under the title “Arab Residents of Israel are Thieves and Murderers,” in which he discussed Palestinians’ history in Israel … Israeli right-wing activist, Moshe Feiglin, published a letter addressing Obama on ‘NRG’ website, after his last speech on the latest developments in the Middle East; in which he claimed that there were no Palestinians in Israel before. “Every Muslim and Christian knows that this land belongs to Jews only!” he said … Israeli journalist, Jay Bakhoor, instigated against Palestinians and held them responsible for their Nakba, in his article published in ‘Yedioth Ahronoth’. He called on the Israeli government to warn the Palestinians from doing any violent action against them. He said, “Every violent action they start, ends with an Arab Nakba! No one caused the Nakba, they did. All who wish to start a new violent wave must know that there will no longer be any Palestinian Authority or Hamas leadership. In addition, Palestinians, as usual, will fall back half a century.” … ‘Makor Rishon’ newspaper published an instigating article by Rabbi, Shlomo Avniri, in which he incited to expel Arab residents of East Jerusalem and place Jews instead. He said, “It is time to fully return to Jerusalem. We will occupy the whole city and fill it with Jews.”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16347
Politics / Diplomacy / International news
Arrests of Hamas officials cloud Palestinian unity
TML 5 June — As the Hamas and Fatah movements work to put together a national unity cabinet, ending four years of acrimony, talks are being clouded by what Hamas says is an unremitting campaign by the Palestinian Authority (PA) of arrests and harassment in the West Bank. “Not only have no political prisoners been released until now, but more are being arrested and summoned for questioning all the time,” Hamed Al-Betawi, a Hamas member of parliament from the West Bank city of Nablus, told The Media Line … PA government spokesman Ghassan Al-Khatib told The Media Line he had “no comment or information” on the imminent release of Hamas prisoners, who are estimated to number some 300. Others are held by Israel, which maintains a security presence in much of the West Bank. “A further delay by the security agencies in releasing the prisoners would mean the collapse of reconciliation,” Qabha told PIC. “According to the agreement, the prisoners should have been released immediately after the signing, but more than a month has gone by and most prisoners have not been released.”
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90050558?Arrests%20of%20Hamas%20Officials%20Cloud%20Palestinian%20Unity%20Talks
Erekat calls on world to recognize Palestinian state
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 4 June — Marking the 44th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, member of the PLO Executive Committee and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat Saturday called on the international community to take the needed steps to put an end to the prolonged Israeli occupation, starting with the recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders as well as supporting the admission of Palestine as member state in the United Nations … “When the Palestinians were divided, Israel used our division as an excuse not to negotiate. Now that we are united, Israel is using our unity as a reason not to negotiate. We will not allow our aspirations to be held hostage by Israel’s intransigence. And so we will continue our diplomatic effort to gain international recognition for our state on the 1967 borders. We will use every peaceful means available to us to achieve our rights…”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16337
Libyan revolutionaries deny Israel relations talks
BENGHAZI, (PIC) 5 June — The National Transitional Council, the political body leading the Libyan revolution, denied Saturday claims that it sent French writer Bernard-Henri Levy to tell Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that, if in power, the body would seek diplomatic ties with Israel. “We welcomed Levy as a special envoy from the French president, and we never talked about our intention to establish ties with Israel,” said NTC head Mustafa Abdul-Jalil in a statement to the press. “We are members of the Arab League and we support efforts the Palestinians have exerted to establish their independent state,” Abdul-Jalil added.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Bulgaria confirms its support for Palestinian statehood
SOFIA (WAFA) 5 June — The Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikolay Mladenov confirmed his country’s stance of supporting the Palestinian people to obtain their independence and realize a two-state solution. Mladenov had met with the Palestinian Ambassador to Bulgaria, Ahmed al-Mathbouh, on Sunday, in preparation for the extended meeting initiated by Bulgaria with the ambassadors of Muslim nations.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16345
Other news
70.7% of Palestinian forests are damaged, says PCBS
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 5 June — Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) Sunday said in a published report that 70.7% of Palestinian forest areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are damaged areas … Following 1967, many of the forests covering most of the Palestinian Territory have become barren as a result of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian land and environment, and due to excessive use by the Palestinians, said the report. The report also said that the Ecological Footprint (EF), which represents the demand for natural resources by humans, in the Palestinian Territory is the least among the neighboring countries.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16350
Analysis / Opinion / Interviews
Interview: Planning the Nakba Day movement in Lebanon / Max Blumenthal
EI 5 June — Four days [after 15 May], I sat in a hotel lobby on New York City’s Upper West Side with Rami Zurayk, an agronomist at the American University of Beirut and Palestinian rights activist who witnessed the demonstration first-hand. With barely enough time to collect himself before landing in New York, Zurayk overflowed with excitement as he described to me the refugees’ embracing of mass unarmed resistance, and shook with horror while recounting the lethal Israeli reaction, which he called “the ‘Dahiya doctrine’ applied to the Arab Spring.” Named for a Beirut suburb that Israel flattened in the 2006 Lebanon war, the “Dahiya doctrine” is the Israeli army’s justification for the application of disproportionate force against a civilian population.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/interview-planning-nakba-day-movement-lebanon/10046
Move over Nakba, Naksa is here / Richard Silverstein
Tikun Olam, 4 June — Until a few  years ago, it seemed that the narrative of the Israeli-Arab conflict was determined mostly by Israel …
There wasn’t much room in all this history, destiny, and messianic redemption for the narrative of the “loser.”  Israelis, the most humane among them, could afford to acknowledge the sins that enabled the triumphs of Israel.  These visionaries bucked the national consensus, but they were swimming upstream and against the prevailing winds. Over time, their voice became thinner and thinner until it was mostly snuffed out in the shouts of triumph from the Israeli nationalist camp. But over the past decade or more, the tables have turned.  With the onset of the Intifadas, Palestinians began to make a claim to a narrative of their own.  It wasn’t just a story they proclaimed for themselves.  They asked the rest of the world to acknowledge it as well.  Slowly, ever so slowly, the world has turned from intense admiration of Israel’s achievements to recognition of the moral cost of those victories.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/06/04/move-over-nakba-naksa-is-here/
UN’s 193rd member – Palestine? / Ronen Matzini
Ynet 5 June — The United Nations has 192 member states at this time. For Israel, the most pessimistic scenario is to discover one morning that the Palestinians got the 193rd seat, via a unilateral move that circumvents negotiations. However the Ramallah leadership’s path to the sought-after seat at the General Assembly in Manhattan is not an easy one at all. First and foremost, the Palestinians are facing the American obstacle … On top of the negative response from Washington, Ramallah is facing an admittance process that requires more than just one vote at the UN General Assembly. Over the past weekend, current GA President Joseph Deiss made it clear that the Palestinian Authority will not be able to join as a member state without a Security Council endorsement … The 1933 Montevideo Convention set four international law criteria for establishing the status of a state: Permanent population, territory defined by permanent borders, effective government and ability to manage both domestic and external affairs. Despite the dispute over the future state’s borders, it appears that the Palestinians meet the requirements, especially in light of the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement, which boosted the effective government element. “In fact, the only thing missing for a Palestinian state today is their declaration,” says Dr. Robbie Sabel, an international law lecturer at Hebrew University and formerly the Foreign Ministry’s legal advisor. Despite the long road they must take in order to receive the status of a UN member state, should the Palestinians declare statehood, the direct implications in the international theater will be dramatic, as many states are expected to recognize “Palestine” immediately after such declaration. “It will be a similar situation to what we are seeing today in Taiwan or in Kosovo; many states recognized their statehood and some did not, such as Israel. Kosovo is not a UN member, but many countries recognize it as an independent state,” Dr. Sabel said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4078464,00.html

groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi (listserv)
www.theheadlines.org (archive)

‘NYT’ grants Israel the occupied Golan (and paragraph 3, to say, We shot at their feet)

Jun 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

Beginning with its headline saying that Israel clashed with protesters on the “Syrian border,” New York Times coverage of the protest in the occupied Golan Heights today refuses to describe the territory as occupied. No, Israel captured it in 1967, it is “Israeli-controlled.” And the border between the Golan and the rest of Syria is described–by Israeli reporter Isabel Kershner–as the Syrian border, and from the west, the same border is described as the Israeli border. The piece also grants prominence to an Israeli government spokesperson who gets the third paragraph to explain that Israelis had no choice but to fire at the protesters’ feet. But as Kershner herself reports, Syrian sources say that at least two were shot in head and chest. And accounts say a couple of hundred were wounded. Why credit the claim, We shot at their feet?

Glenn Beck says artists’ support for Palestinians shows ‘we are behind the curve’ on Israel

Jun 05, 2011

annie

Glenn Beck is worried all the hip artists for Palestine are influencing our culture. He “hesitated” to tell viewers about it. The flotilla is also “evil.” This is definitely garnering more attention than an endorsement by Cold Play. It’s hard to top Glenn for riveting the nation. “We are behind the curve… on the Israel front.”

Let’s make Glenn cry even more. Push it! Watch it on full screen! Buy it!

They steal Palestinian minerals on occupied land, and open live fire on protesters, and the west is silent

Jun 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

From Joseph Dana at +972. Hey they are raising money; give +972 money.

This morning, roughly 40 unarmed Palestinians among with four Israelis, held a demonstration at an illegal Israeli quarry built on the land of the villages of Ni’ilin and Budrus. As the demonstrators approached the quarry they could see an Israeli private security guard screaming at them from a small distance. Within seconds, the guard opened live fire on the protesters. He even took time to aim at individual protesters.

The [linked] video was shot by one of the activists on the scene. According to eyewitnesses, within five minutes three Israeli military jeeps arrived and told the protesters to leave and that the area was a closed military zone. Instead of disciplining the security guard for opening live fire on unarmed demonstrators, soldiers attacked the group with tear gas. Palestinians are reporting that one person was hit in the head with shrapnel. The below video is from a demonstration held in the same area earlier in the week.

You organize a protest. They come to your door at 2 a.m., make you undress, order you to report to security… And the west is silent

Jun 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

From the Popular Committee in Beit Ommar. Note to Americans: this type of harassment of the Gandhis and Kings of the West Bank is absolutely routine:

At 2:00 am on Friday, June 3rd, Israeli military forces entered Beit Ommar and made their way to the home of Popular Committee member and PSP coordinator Mousa Abu Maria.

When they could not immediately find the him, the soldiers woke Abu Maria’s neighbor to direct them. The man refused, but the soldiers took him along anyways until they found the correct door.

When Abu Maria opened the door, the soldiers demanded that he strip off his clothes. Abu Maria refused, but the soldiers insisted until he complied. After checking him, the soldiers pushed in and demanded to see his identification card. Abu Maria provided it to them.

The soldiers began to hassle Abu Maria, identifying him as “the one who organizes protests every week.” Abu Maria responded that he did not see the problem with that, and again questioned the soldiers’ presence in his village and home.

Finally, the soldiers served Abu Maria with a document requiring his presence at a meeting with the head of security in Gush Etzion in three days’ time. Abu Maria was told he would be arrested if he did not go, and the soldiers took his mobile number as added insurance.

Previous army incursions to Abu Maria’s house have resulted in his arrest, as well as the confiscation of laptops. The house and its contents are often ransacked and broken.

Netanyahu owns Congress, but Palestinians have captured Europe

Jun 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

David Horovitz in the Jerusalem Post on the battle for Europe. Israel is losing Europe. But it’s got the U.S., forever. The UN vote for a Palestinian state will be a “train wreck” that leads to greater boycott. And Obama should have handled Netanyahu better, to try and head off the European rage toward Israel… How should he have finessed Netanyahu? Oh, by not pressing Israel as he did in his 1967 remarks. Oh my. thanks to Blankfort.

A solitary heckler apart, the prime minister won the kind of adulatory reception in Congress 10 days ago that he could not dream of receiving in any sizable political forum in Israel. He wouldn’t feel that kind of love at a big gathering of his own Likud Party, never mind his parliament, where he is lucky if he can get through a few sentences without hostile interruption…

An overwhelming GA vote in favor of Palestine may well be unavoidable. A UNGA vote in support of Palestine backed by “responsible” European nations would be a blow to Israel of a whole different order.

It would be seen as legitimizing a radically intensified boycott and sanctions effort. It would be interpreted by extremists here as providing something of a green light for violence and terrorism against Israel. It would bolster momentum for legal warfare against Israel, including via the International Criminal Court in The Hague. (If the Palestinians are seen as a state, not merely by predictably sympathetic nations but by “fair-minded” nations too, the ICC would be more likely to seek to acquire jurisdiction for prosecuting alleged Israeli crimes in the West Bank, including as relates to settlements.) And it would emphatically bolster mass, unarmed “Arab Spring”-style protests – the kind Israel failed to face down on a small scale two weeks ago, and the kind it may well already begin to encounter on a larger scale from Sunday.

None of this is to say that Netanyahu failed Israel with that virtuoso performance before Congress last Tuesday. That speech – with its emphasis on the Jewish connection to Judea and Samaria, and on Palestinian statehood not hinging on Israeli compromise but on Arab recognition of Israeli legitimacy – set out contextual basics with passion, dexterity, clarity and flair.

But it did not free the prime minister of the obligation to use astute diplomacy to head off the September “train wreck.” It did not free him of the obligation to show, not just to tell, that Israel is ready for peace, and that it is the Palestinians who are not.

Obama and his hierarchy should have consulted more effectively with Netanyahu and his hierarchy ahead of the State Department bombshell speech.

Even Sandra Day O’Connor (in NY Review of Books) sees damage to US interests in ‘vast disparity’ of Israel’s power

Jun 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

The latest New York Review of Books reprints a good letter from last January to Obama from a passel of wise men and women in the Establishment. The letter calls for a deal on the 1967 lines with very limited swaps and though it’s a dead letter, it’s significant for a few reasons: 1, you see a bunch of establishment figures from Frank Carlucci to Paul Volcker to James Wolfensohn to Lee Hamilton to Sandra Day O’Connor to Rita Hauser (a prominent Jewish lawyer who helped endow the Edward Said chair at Columbia, which Rashid Khalidi holds). Well here are the names:

David L. Boren, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank C. Carlucci, William J. Fallon, Chuck Hagel, Lee H. Hamilton, Gary Hart, Rita E. Hauser, Carla Hills, Nancy Kassebaum-Baker, Sandra Day O’Connor, Thomas R. Pickering, Paul Volcker, James D. Wolfensohn

The significance of the letter is that the NY Review of Books is platforming it. I always criticize the NYRB for having too many Israeli voices, Jewish voices. Well not here.

Most of them are not Jewish, most are “American interest” types, and they warn about the “vast disparity” of power between Israelis and Palestinians that is prolonging this conflict, they hint that Obama should punish Israel if it fails to crack down to the 1967 borders, they tell him he won’t suffer political repercussions if he explains the situation to the American people, and they evidently see the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation in favorable terms. As they urged in January: “The US will encourage the reconciliation of Fatah and Hamas on terms compatible with these principles and UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338.”

Also:

Left to their own devices, it is the vast disparity of power between the two parties rather than international law and fairness that will continue to prevail….

What is widely perceived as a terminal failure of US Middle East peace diplomacy has left a vacuum that threatens to deepen the State of Israel’s isolation, undermine Palestinian moderation, and endanger American interests in the region and beyond. That vacuum is beginning to be filled by new international initiatives that increase Israelis’ sense of existential threat from what they perceive to be a global movement that seeks their country’s delegitimization.

But it is not the State of Israel within its 1967 borders that is being challenged. It is Israel’s occupation, the relentless enlargement of its settlements, its dispossession of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and the humanitarian disaster caused by its blockade of Gaza that are the target of international anger and condemnation.

Neoconservative David Brooks admits he saw Iraq war as necessary for ‘peace process’

Jun 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

David Brooks admitted everything yesterday. Monstrous column. Who will call him on these belligerent attitudes? He said that the peace process is in essence the pacification of Arab countries. And so it required the invasion of Iraq and, prospectively, getting rid of Qaddafi, Assad, and Hamas. Not a word about the occupation, not a word about 25-to-1 ratio of water used, Jews to Palestinians in the West Bank. This is the neoconservative mind: the only issue is Israel’s dominance in the region, and our support for it. Be thankful to Brooks for admitting it.

In fact, the current peace process is doomed because of the inability to make a categorical distinction. There are some countries in the region that are not nice, but they are normal – Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia. But there are other governments that are fundamentally depraved. Either as a matter of thuggishness (Syria) or ideology (Hamas), they reject the full humanity of other human beings. They believe it is proper and right to kill innocents. They can never be part of a successful negotiation because they undermine the universal principles of morality.

…There won’t be peace so long as depraved regimes are part of the picture. That’s why it’s crazy to get worked into a lather about who said what about the 1967 border. As long as Hamas and the Assad regime are in place, the peace process is going nowhere, just as it’s gone nowhere for lo these many years.

That’s why it’s necessary, especially at this moment in history, to focus on the nature of regimes, not only the boundaries between them. To have a peaceful Middle East, it was necessary to get rid of Saddam’s depraved regime inIraq. It will be necessary to try to get rid of Gadhafi’s depraved regime in Libya. It’s necessary, as everybody but the Obama administration publicly acknowledges, to see Assad toppled. It will be necessary to marginalize Hamas.It was necessary to abandon the engagement strategy that Barack Obama campaigned on and embrace the cautious regime-change strategy that is his current doctrine.

This is unreconstructed neoconservatism, transplanted to the Arab spring, and signalling that the Palestinians must never have self-determination, unless it’s in Jordan. Notice the “universal principles of morality” — which Brooks, who has visited Israel a dozen times and was raised as a Jew to be “gooey-eyed” about the place– fails to apply to Israel’s occupation. No, the neoconservative principle is that Arabs must be bludgeoned by a superpower into accepting the presence of Israel.As Ed Koch used to say, How’m I doing??

Note as well that Brooks says “cautious regime change” is Obama’s policy. Well Brooks is a favorite of Obama, and it’s hard to imagine him saying anything like that without a signal from the White House. So Obama is pushing for the removal of Assad and Gaddafi.

Egyptians don’t care about democracy, only the economy, says US Republicans

NOVANEWS


A poll that unsurprisingly didn’t focus so much on the major reasons the Egyptian economy is in such bad shape, namely that billions of dollars of US aid over decades went to building a police state:

A majority of Egyptians who supported this year’s revolution did so mainly because of their poor economic situation, not because they yearned for democracy, according to a U.S. government-funded poll released Sunday.

The survey also underlines Egyptians’ sky-high expectations for their next government. Eight in 10 respondents said they anticipated their economic situation would be better in the coming year. That presents a daunting challenge for whomever takes office, with a recent drop in tourism and foreign investment exacerbating the country’s already severe economic problems.

The survey was carried out for the International Republican Institute (IRI), a pro-democracy group that is close to prominent U.S. Republicans.

…

Only 15 percent said they support the Muslim Brotherhood, which favors a government guided by Islamic sharia law. Less than 1 percent of respondents favor an Iran-style Islamic theocracy.

And only 15 percent said their political opinions were strongly influenced by religious figures, with many more citing family members and military leaders

What “right to exist” as a Jewish state?

NOVANEWS

 

Leading Australian academic Scott Burchill (we like his thoughts here) on specious Zionist claims:

Since the 1970s, Israel’s leaders have insisted that their Palestinian interlocutors acknowledge Israel’s “right to exist” as a pre-condition for negotiations on a settlement of the conflict.

Amongst other concessions, the governments of Israel and the United States insist that Hamas makes precisely this declaration before being allowed to join Fatah in direct talks with their Israeli counterparts.

The problem with such a demand is that no such abstract “right to exist” can be found in international law or in any serious theory of international relations.

To put it succinctly, a “right to exist” does not exist for states. Nor does such a right exist in practice. Australia, for example, does not recognise Israel’s “right to exist”. Nor do any other states.

…

The question of what it would actually be recognising by acknowledging Israel’s “right to exist” has only one answer. Hamas would be acknowledging the legitimacy of the dispossession of the Palestinian people from their homeland.

Why would they ever want to concede this, let alone as a precondition for peace negotiations? It would amount to a pre-emptive surrender.

WikiLeaks: Indian Army and Siachen


 

Amid the WikiLeaks disclosed the fact Indian army was engaged in extra judicial killing in Indian held Kashmir the Pak-India talks on Siachen couldn’t achieve success due to Indian army’s resistance.  Ironically when Pakistan was interested to reach to some point of conciliation the Indian army came into the way of little chance to have peace in the region. It is an unfortunate that India’s so called democratic government is hostage in the hands of its army which is said to be an apolitical. That is how Indian army has shown its apolitical role during the recent talks on Siachen to not to sign any of the pact to demilitarize the world’s most frozen and the costly front which has taken many lives of the both sides soldiers. Ironically when the talks were undergoing Pakistan’s electronic channels were flashing tickers if Indian air chief that before proceeding further there is a need to have proper line of control there in Siachen. This was however a prerogative of Indian democratic government officials to say anything pertaining to the talks.

So Indian army’s fresh stance taken on the Siachen issue has supported the WikiLeaks cable of 2006  stated that every time India and Pakistan came “very close” to an agreement on the Siachen issue, the prime minister of the day would be forced to back out by the Indian defence establishment, the Congress Party hard-line and opposition leaders. In another cable, Ambassador David Mulford citing various obstacles to an agreement on Siachen wrote about the first obstacle “Army Chief JJ Singh appears on the front page of the “Indian Express” seemingly fortnightly to tell readers the Army cannot support a withdrawal from Siachen.  Given India’s high degree of civilian control over the armed forces, it is improbable that Gen. Singh could repeatedly make such statements without MoD civilians giving at least tacit approval.  Whether or not this is the case, a Siachen deal is improbable while his — and the Army’s — opposition continues to circulate publicly”.

WikiLeaks cables depicts that it was nor Pakistan neither its army but it was Indian army not interested to have any of the peace deal. Indian government which claims of being the biggest democracy of the world doesn’t enjoy the freedom to have it decisions with the consensus of its parliament and the political faction but time and again it has to look towards its forces to take permission to go ahead on any of the deal. It reminds of Indian government resolve to cut short the number of the troops in held Kashmir but army’s  local area commander and obviously the military high command bluntly refused to do the same so Indian government had to retreat from its resolve to decrease the number of troops.

It is heartening to note that due to hardened stance of Indian Army during recently held Defence Secretary level talks between India and Pakistan on the Siachen dispute the issue could not be resolved. During talks which were held in New Delhi on 3rd – 31st May Pakistan delegation suggested immediate disengagement as a forward for resolving the dispute. The Indian side however, hardened their stance and did not agree reportedly due to pressure and intransigence of their Army, which was not willing to resolve the Siachen dispute to vacate the conflict zone and go back to previously held position.

It depicts vested interest of the Indian army to remain engaged in the Kashmir and in Siachen as well. In fact Siachen is bread and butter of Indian army as it includes huge funds and fringe befits. Many of the fraudulent initiatives have been reported in the past that how Indian army justified its bravery and its stay in the Siachen heights by showering the encounters and its resolve to get the medals. Not only the army deputed in Siachen but in other parts of the country there have been reports of bogus efficiency to claim awards out of the ‘brave’ acts. An Indian Army Colonel H.S. Kohli, has been dismissed and a major suspended for faking killings by splashing tomato ketchup on civilians and passing them off as dead separatists – in the hope of being awarded. Colonel H.S. Kohli, commanding an artillery regiment in Assam, had faked the killing of some separatists last year by making some civilians pose in photographs as enemy casualties after splashing their bodies with tomato sauce. The “daring” colonel in fact tried to use the photographs to back his claim for a gallantry award and was subsequently tried and found guilty in a court martial.

The colonel apparently took photographs of some civilians in an isolated place in southern Assam’s Cachar district after pouring tomato sauce on their bodies and making the pictures look like an encounter, with blood splattered over the bodies. The fraud came to light when the colonel’s claims for a gallantry award were processed. It was indeed bizarre to find him claiming a bravery award for the kills, which in fact did not, took place at all.

The saucy scandal was not unique of its kind to rock the Indian Army as they had already proved their skills in Siachen scandal in which a Major was accused of inventing enemy killings for the sake of gallantry awards. According to new norms, Indian Army officials are being graded and awarded promotions and bravery awards on the basis of the number of terrorists they capture and kill. So this is how they try to capture the awards and the respect. Don’t know why Indian army denies the fact that awards, medals and dignity can only be earned with fervor and never be achieved with malicious efforts.

Pakistan: Why Swat was a Success

By Jawad Raza Khan

History of warfare is filled with enormous number of illustrations regarding counterinsurgency operations, perceptibly with diverse backgrounds against diverse political, socio-economical and most precariously religious motives. Since 9/11, a lamentable propensity has ascended, to use the terms “terrorist” and “guerrilla” as if they were synonyms. This is a serious muddle that may well lead to policy blunders and thus can cost soldiers’ lives.

What constitutes guerrilla warfare is not ideology, but tactics. Its objective is a protracted war of attrition against superior enemy military forces and especially their logistical system. The principal guerrilla tactic is surprise, made possible by mobility and intelligence. Mao wrote that the strategy of the guerrilla is to pit one man against ten, but the tactics are to pit ten men against one. That is, well-led guerrillas will never engage in battle except when they have clear numerical superiority at the point of contact with enemy forces.

Terrorists adopt same tactics of guerilla warfare but not precisely on the logistical system of superior Army but to terrorize the population for their writ. Most of the times they use religion as their basic motivational force, which for at least sometime provide them a firm base with highly enthused manpower to operate in the killing zones with no fear of death. History witnesses many forms of terrorism taking inspirations from different religions for example; Peter Steinfels characterizes the famous Gunpowder Plot, in which Catholics aggrieved by persecution attempted to overthrow the Protestant establishment of England by blowing up the Parliament, is indeed a notable case of religious terrorism.

In recent years students of Counterinsurgency operations have agreed that “the ballot box is the coffin of insurgency” and that’s what ideally happened in 2008, (the election year of Pakistan). Theoretically, for successful counterinsurgency operation; political; military; and population support is inevitable.

The Swat operation had the ground prepared as per the requirement; the affected area was well within the geographical boundaries of Pakistan; it had political support with unflinching backing of international and domestic media; but to counter was a large pool of religiously double crossed youth of Swat valley.

Pakistani citizens and Army was about to face something for which no solution is written in any text book or a military paper, yet it became a source for developing theories and strategies internationally, in the books of military doctrine against insurgencies.

Swat operation was a classic example of coherent and precise application of military and media in combination for first time in the history of own soil insurgency warfare. Political support with elements like national integration and cohesiveness demonstrated unflinching concepts of bravery and heroism, was appreciated and acknowledged over the lengths and breaths both domestically and globally.

Acute scrutiny of success is as important as analysis of a failure. Most of the time failures are evaluated in depth to achieve victory in events to come, but studying a victory for setting up an efficacious path with stability is correspondingly significant than the former and especially when Pakistan is under tremendous pressure to launch operation in North Waziristan.

Students of defense and strategic studies claims that, “shaping the strategic environment while fighting insurgency consists of; isolating the combat area; committing sufficient forces, and; offering the population of the contested region a peaceful path for the alleviation of grievances”.

Let’s equate Swat operation, with said three basic pillars of counterinsurgency operation.

Isolating the Combat Area:

 

The geography of Swat valley delivers it a natural segregation in terms of military tactics, as it has no borders with the outside world and in this case the most unsafe country on the planet Afghanistan. Although, the combat area share border with Tribal belt of Dir, but natural avoidance from Afghanistan directly, can ensure to achieve blockade of men, material and financial help from there.

Committing Sufficient Forces:

Conduct of some classical military operation like landing of SSG in Piochar (right in the heart of terror den) along with simultaneous advance of two big forces for a remarkable link up at Mingora off balanced the insurgents completely. In just over four months the terrorists were on the run and security forces were in control of most of the Swat valley.

Offering the Population of the Contested Region a Peaceful Path for the Alleviation of Grievances:

Although, Swat operation saw something which cannot be equated in the history of mankind, especially in shape of exit from and entrance back in Swat valley of more than 4 million refugees, which were displaced due to the operation of security forces, within two months of its culmination. Insurgencies are fought phase wise, indeed first phase was over in last quarter of 2009, but phases to follow also required to be dealt with professionalism. According to a survey in Swat valley around 7000 houses were destroyed completely or partially, more than 800 shops were perished. The most effected industry of Swat which requires immediate attention of the public sector is the tourism industry, not less than 650 hotels of Swat valley were smashed which was one of the heaviest blow on Swati population.  Insurgent attacked on two major positive aspects of Swati society, one: tourism and other was the education system of the valley, out of 401 schools in Swat, 175 were completely destroyed, 226 were partially damaged, and more than hundred mosques were also destroyed.

The most critical phase of the counterinsurgency operation is still on, which was indeed hampered largely by floods 2010. The devastations by floods were far more furious than the insurgency itself and requires more dedicated and honest works by the all concerned at all levels, so that the phase three must end with complete success of security forces and government machinery in the effected valley. Institution like Rastoon and Sabaoon are set up in Malakand division with the vision of dealing with religious intellectual disorder created by insurgents in the youth of Swat and offering them different skills to learn in order to earn their livelihood respectfully are indeed steps in right direction. The volume of the catastrophe was so big in the magnitude that such steps as mentioned above must also be coupled up with a formal rehabilitation strategy to draw positives out of the success of military operation in Swat. Partial success of Swat operation can act as a beacon for operations anywhere in and outside Pakistan. With ever rising American pressure for Waziristan operation especially after OBL case, Waziristan is required to be analyzed in all of its perspectives before jumping onto the conclusions.

History of Waziristan:

Waziristan comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lies immediately to the east and Afghanistan in the west. The region was an independent tribal territory until 1893, remaining outside the British Empire. What all is going on in Waziristan is not new to these tribesmen. (1919-1920): In the rugged and remote region of Waziristan on British India’s northwest border with Afghanistan, mountain tribes of independent-minded Muslim fighters gave the British Army a difficult time for decades. Unprecedented use of Air Power by British was witnessed by the world at that time, even that bombardment couldn’t soften up the target and British had to alter the strategy in order to ensure peace in the region.

Let’s now evaluate the most demanded military operation by US in North Waziristan in the perspective of Swat operation with historical facts at the back of mind. Again the three pillars are required to be studied and validated to crystallize the strategy in North Waziristan

Isolating the Combat Area (Waziristan):

The battle zone this time is right in between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and situation in Afghanistan with multifarious forces operating with different priorities and aims

makes the requisite isolation of the combat zone even more challenging. Realistically speaking control of US and NATO forces along the Pakistani border is extinct with repeated violations of Pakistan’s ground and air space by US and NATO forces has made the job more towards its impossible version. The movement of the terrorists from Afghanistan to Pakistan is frequent and easy, the incident of an attack of 200 terrorists on Pakistani check post from Afghanistan last week simply clarifies the doubt in this regard, hence, the first and the foremost prerequisite of fighting a counterinsurgency war cannot be not met in entirety, until the border is watched or sealed with dedication and honesty by US and NATO forces placed in Afghanistan.

Committing Sufficient Forces (Waziristan):

With overstretched Pakistani Military forces in Swat and FATA and loud-mouthed statement by Indian government after every violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty compels the authority to concentrate on enemy number one. With all this in back ground the political and military thinkers still looks to be unsure of committing their assets in North Waziristan which does not allow a go ahead for a successful operation in the troubled area.

Offering the Population of the Contested Region a Peaceful Path for the Alleviation of Grievances (Waziristan):

The statement above looks to be completely oblivious after witnessing unstoppable killing of innocent civilians and gross air and ground space violations as, such attacks will be completely counterproductive till the time they are carried out by foreign forces.

If the world is serious and honest to take on terrorism fair and square than Pakistanis are needed to be seen with a local microscope, steps in right direction can prove fruitful and long-lasting. The canvas of Anti-Terror campaign must be painted in a larger perspective to ensure all win situation for every ally in this war.

The demanded of North Waziristan campaign will prove to be another disaster like Iraq and Afghanistan, if the mentioned analysis is not catered for before the commencement of operation. US must learn from the recent history that winning hearts and minds by foreign forces is an impossible task which it has failed at number of occasions. Let’s this time it should not be another defeat because it will not be only fatal for US and Pakistan but for THE GLOBAL PEACE.